Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurse

National median pay

$64,400

per year · $30.96 per hour

May 2025

Projected employment change

+3%

2025–35

About as fast as average

Jobs in the United States

666,900

Projected openings each year: 51,800

Typical entry-level education

Postsecondary nondegree award

On-the-job training

None — training is part of the required programme

What the occupation does

An LPN or LVN is the person who is with the patient most of the day. They check vital signs, help people with washing and dressing, change bandages, give medication where the state allows it, and notice when something has changed. A great deal of the value is in observation and reporting: an LPN who notices a subtle change and tells a registered nurse promptly is doing the job well. The scope of practice is set by the state, and it genuinely differs, which is why two people with the same title may be allowed to do different things.

Common daily responsibilities

• Monitor patients' health by checking blood pressure, temperature, and other vital signs.
• Provide basic care and comfort, including changing bandages and helping with bathing and dressing.
• Discuss care with patients and listen to their concerns.
• Report changes in a patient's condition to registered nurses or physicians.
• Give medication or start intravenous drips where state law and training allow it.
• Collect samples and carry out routine tests in some settings.
• Document care accurately and maintain health records.
• Help patients and families understand how to continue care at home.

Typical work environments

• Nursing and residential care facilities, the largest single employer.
• Hospitals, where duties are often more technical and more specialised.
• Home health, travelling to patients in their own homes.
• Physicians' offices and outpatient clinics, with more regular hours.
• Government and correctional health facilities.

Skills and abilities needed

• Genuine care for people, including people who are frightened, confused, or unwell.
• Careful observation and the judgement to know what is worth reporting.
• Emotional steadiness around illness, death, and distressed families.
• Physical stamina for long shifts on your feet and for helping patients move.
• Clear, accurate documentation, because the record is the handover.
• Teamwork, since care is delivered by a group rather than by one person.

Ways to enter the occupation

• State-approved practical nursing programme

  The standard route, usually at a community college, technical school, or hospital programme. It typically takes about a year, includes supervised clinical hours, and must be approved by the state board of nursing. You then sit the licensing examination.

  Typical duration: About 1 year

• Hospital-based diploma programme

  Some hospitals run their own practical nursing programmes with heavy clinical content and a direct route into employment there.

  Typical duration: About 1 year

• Nursing assistant, then bridge into practical nursing

  Starting as a nursing assistant or medical assistant gives you patient-care experience and sometimes employer tuition support while you complete the LPN programme.

  Typical duration: Varies, then about 1 year

• Military training

  Military medic and hospital corpsman specialties include substantial clinical training. Ask specifically about credential mapping and whether the state will accept the training toward licensure.

  Typical duration: Varies

How long training takes

A state-approved practical nursing programme typically takes about one year of full-time study, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics lists no separate on-the-job training requirement because the clinical hours are built into the programme. Time to a licence then depends on examination scheduling and on your state board's processing time, which can add several weeks to several months.

Licensing and certification

Licensure is mandatory in every state. You must complete a state-approved programme and pass the NCLEX-PN licensing examination before you may practise, and the licence is issued by the state board of nursing. Voluntary certifications in areas such as intravenous therapy, dialysis, or long-term care exist and can improve your standing with employers, but they do not replace the licence and cannot be used instead of it.

This describes the general pattern. It is not a statement about the rules in your state, and nothing here means a trade is licensed nationwide.

Do requirements differ by state?

Yes, and it matters for what you are allowed to do. The title itself differs: some states call the role licensed practical nurse and others licensed vocational nurse. More importantly, scope of practice varies — whether you may administer medication, start an IV, or supervise unlicensed staff depends on the state, and some states allow experienced nurses to oversee others while others require direct supervision. The licence is also state-specific: practising in a new state normally means applying for licensure there.

How to find a legitimate program

Start with your state board of nursing, which publishes the list of approved practical nursing programmes. Only an approved programme qualifies you to sit the licensing examination, so this is the single most important thing to check before paying tuition. Ask any school for its NCLEX-PN first-time pass rate and for the proportion of graduates who find work. A programme that will not give you those numbers is telling you something.

Career advancement

• Specialisation within the role: long-term care, home health, dialysis, paediatrics, or intravenous therapy.
• Charge nurse or shift supervisor in a care facility.
• Bridge programmes to registered nurse, which usually grant credit for the LPN year and are the most common next step.
• Maternity, hospice, or rehabilitation specialisation, each with its own additional training.
• Case management or care coordination roles in some settings.

Self-employment

Direct self-employment is uncommon, because nursing care is delivered within licensed facilities or agencies and paid for through insurance or public programmes. The realistic independent route is contract or agency work, where you are engaged through an agency, or private-duty nursing for a single client, which usually still requires you to work under a physician's orders and carry your own liability insurance.

Self-employment usually brings its own requirements on top of the trade itself, such as a business registration, a contractor licence, insurance, or a bond. Those are separate from the occupational licence and are set by your state.

Related occupations

• Medical assistant
• Computer support specialist

Official resources and next steps

• U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Outlook Handbook

  The federal source for the pay, education, and employment projections shown on this page.

• Apprenticeship.gov — U.S. Department of Labor

  The official register of registered apprenticeship programmes. Search by trade and by state, and confirm that a programme is registered before you trust it.

• CareerOneStop — U.S. Department of Labor

  Official wage data for your own area, local training listings, and the American Job Center nearest you.

• O*NET OnLine — U.S. Department of Labor

  A detailed breakdown of the tasks, tools, and knowledge each occupation actually involves, maintained by the Department of Labor.

• U.S. Department of Labor

  Federal rules on wages, safety, and training, and the starting point for finding the state agency that governs a trade.